[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 171 (Wednesday, November 30, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1543-E1544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING GERALD S. CLARK, SR. ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 30, 2016

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today to 
join friends, family, and colleagues in celebration of my good friend, 
Gerald S. Clark, Sr., as he marks his retirement as Executive Director 
of the Greater New Haven Business and Professional Association--an 
organization that he founded and has led for the last fifty years.
  A visionary business leader for as long as most of us can remember, 
Gerry has left an indelible mark on Greater New Haven and particularly 
the minority business community. Born in Tuskegee, Alabama on New 
Year's Day of 1929, Gerry joined the U.S. Army in 1950 following his 
graduation from Hampton University. He served our nation with 
distinction during his two years of active service and twenty-eight 
years of service in the U.S. Army Reserves, retiring as a Lieutenant 
Colonel.
  His graduate studies brought him to New York University and he soon 
settled in New Haven, Connecticut with his late wife, Yvonne. He opened 
the Gerald S. Clark Insurance Agency in 1965 and spearheaded the 
development of Dixwell Plaza as well as serving as a founding member of 
the Dixwell Merchants Association. Gerry quickly became a driving force 
in Greater New Haven's business community. He has served as a member of 
the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the Tennis Foundation of 
Connecticut Board of Directors, Science Park Development Corporation, 
Chapel Square of New Haven, the Minority Enterprise Small Business 
Investment Corporation, the Airport Commission, the City-Wide School 
Building Committee, the New Haven Scholarship Fund, the Greater New 
Haven NAACP, and the Technology Investment Fund. Indeed there is no 
part of our City that has not been impacted by his dedicated efforts.
  Perhaps his greatest contribution to the Greater New Haven community 
has been the establishment of the Greater New Haven Business and 
Professional Association. An organization dedicated to helping improve 
small and minority businesses and professions within Connecticut, to 
assisting in the development of new enterprises among minority 
businesses inside and around the community, enhancing the cultural and 
spiritual values of the community through communications and economic 
cooperation, and to promoting the development of business and economic 
resources in the minority community. For more than fifty years, Gerry 
has led this organization and helped to ensure that its members have 
had access to services that have enabled their businesses to flourish. 
Small businesses are the backbone of our nation's economy and one of 
the keys to creating new jobs. In today's challenging economic climate, 
organizations like the Greater New Haven Business & Professional 
Association are more important than ever--fostering the entrepreneurial 
spirit of small business owners in our community.
  I would be remiss if I did not extend a special note of thanks to 
Gerry for his many years of friendship. There are few who have 
dedicated more of themselves to the New Haven community and its 
residents than Gerry Clark. His unique vision and leadership have made 
this organization the success it is today and his good work has helped 
to shape the very character of our City. I am honored to stand today to 
join his children, Gerald, Tanya, and William, his seven grandchildren 
and ten great-grandchildren as well as the many friends, colleagues, 
and community leaders who have gathered today in extending my deepest 
thanks and appreciation to Gerald Clark, Sr. for his invaluable 
contributions to our community as well as my very best wishes for many 
more years of health and happiness as he enjoys his retirement.

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